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14 Inspiring Stories Of People Who Chose “The Vanlife” And Left Their Conventional Homes Behind

Yearning for a new beginning? A great adventure? Or living completely self-sufficient? In this day and age, we have more opportunities than ever, to create a life that suits us best. But it requires courage and dedication to dare to break away and to make these daydreams come true.

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BreakAwayTales is an Instagram account, that each day features a 3 part tale about inspirational people that have turned their daydream into reality. The tales encourage to try unconventional ways of living and in nomadic, minimalistic and self-sufficient living spaces. Here you will be introduced to people living in anything from tiny houses to rolling-, sailing- and off-grid homes, and get a glimpse of their daily life. All participants have contributed a personal text to tell about themselves and their journey.

Jessy

“I’m Jessy and my rig is a 1978 Dodge Commander whom I affectionately refer to as Mander”

“We’ve just hit our 6 month road anniversary and I’m so proud of both of us! We’ve been through a lot but here we are standing strong! I love getting to experience the places I go on a deeper level. This whole living life on the road thing is great practice for living in the moment, letting go and just riding the ride. And boy what a ride it’s been!”

“You see that bag of tools? It’s my constant traveling companion. It literally rides in the passenger seat. It’s not much for conversation but it’s always there for me when I need it.”

Mikey, Sooz and Harrison

“I (Sooz) grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mikey mainly grew up in Virginia. We met in college as BYU-Idaho students one fateful night around a bonfire. After a few years of dating we got married in 2013, and started doing the normal 9-5 thing, settling down, and accumulating way more stuff than we needed.”

After a babymoon roadtrip down the coast of California, we returned home with a terribly bittersweet feeling. We wished we could spend more of our time together as a couple. We had been living separate lives except for the weekends. The 9-5 lifestyle was pulling us apart. So, I guess the universe heard us, and the day we got back from the trip, Mikey was called into his supervisor’s office and was told he was being let go… ha! Now we had no insurance, no jobs, and a baby on the way.

“But at least we knew we were going to do whatever it took to leave the 9-5 and travel full time as a family.⠀After a lot of temp work, and researching, we started an affiliate marketing business online that would allow us to be completely location independent. Soon after that we bought our 1995 roadtrek camper van and began renovating it. We just finished a 12 day test trip in it together as a family and visited Joshua Tree National Park.Our mission for the next 2 years or so is to visit each of the 59 National Parks in the USA, and document the journey on YouTube!”

Tinyhousenorway

She is living in a 15 sq m tiny house, off grid in Melhus, Norway, to be closer to nature and to appreciate what life is all about.

“I have dreamt a long time of living an off grid lifestyle, and last summer my dream came true! Now I am living a simple life in a tinyhouse off grid in Norway, with my two dogs; Isak and Lotus.”

“I chose this lifestyle to be closer to nature and closer to life.”

Chad and Kate

“After my husband and I sold our bar back in Asheville, NC and his youngest left for college, we moved out of our house and into a 1976 Airstream Argosy to travel the country. Chad remodeled the interior and I painted the mural around the trailer.”

“We have traveled about 30,000mi since our Argosy Odyssey began in the summer 2016.”

“Along with our furry travel companions, Frankie the goat and Maggie the dog, we have covered two countries, 27 states, and dozens of National and State Parks.”

Carsten and Sina

“We are from Germany, chasing dreams in our self build VW T4. On the road since October, 2017.”

“This is our van, which we converted to make our dream of a rolling home come true. We often wonder how we imagine our lifes to be and have started to search for an alternative way to live. The first step towards our desire to keep on exploring is an ebook project about “how to build your campervan”, which will be out soon.”⠀

“One thing we don’t like is washing the dishes, but at least most of the times we get to enjoy a great view while doing our chores. So I guess we have nothing to complain about.”

Hannah

“We are two post grads that are unwilling to settle for a 9-5 desk job. So we decided to become tourists in our home country, USA.”

“We bought Belinda the blue Vanagon, she teaches us everyday to release control and cherish the present moment. We are not only traveling for ourselves but for those at home who we love to share this adventure with.”⠀

“Here after a sandstorm. We got to experience both chaos and serenity. “

Zac, Katie, Fox and Grizly

“After 6 years of married life and starting a family in Orange County, we started to ask ourselves where we saw ourselves in 10 years with our current lifestyle, and we really didn’t like what we envisioned.”

“Flash forward almost 3 years, and we’ve started our own small business and built our own tiny home in pursuit of a lifestyle that we enjoy rather than one that enslaves us.”⠀

“Today’s a good day. 1: because we live here. 2: We officially payed all of our credit cards off and we’re a debt free family. When we lived in CA we made decent money, didn’t really go on vacations, never owned new cars or bought fancy things, and still never seemed to make an impact on any of our bills. Even when we first moved to NM and everything was cheaper, it still didn’t seem to change and that’s when we realized, for us, it was going to take a drastic lifestyle change to get where we wanted. It’s been a long journey for us, but the sweet victory nectar taste so good.”⠀

Angela

“I’m a Scorpio, an environmentalist, a forklift driver, an auntie and a sister”

“3.5 years ago I quit my job and moved into a van with my boyfriend. I was terrified of the unknown, yet a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. We were free to escape the daily grind and chase the sun. “

“Working seasonally in Alaska and minimizing our bills, has enabled us to continue traveling and living a life of adventure.”⠀

Frye

“I have been living in my Vanagon for almost 2 years now!”

“I backpack, climb, surf, and live in a van. My next goal is to do a huge interior upgrade in my van!”

“Sweet warmth, I’m not sure what I would do without ole Smokey.”

Maren and Max

“My fiancé and I were paying San Francisco rent prices and the money was just going down the drain so we decided to make a change.”

“We built our house 3 years ago and love it!”

“We started our travel blog and have more time and money to do the things we love.”

Mili and Marcos

“Honeymoon on wheels: We are traveling from California to Argentina in a converted bus!”

“We’ve been one year in the road already and there is still many more to come!”

Gabriel and Debbie

“We were living in a 5000 sq ft house sick of living the “normal” life that everyone thought we should so we packed our 4 kids into a 250 sq ft converted school bus and headed west and we’re LOVING it.”

“Minimizing all of our stuff and lifestyle has brought so much joy and connection to our family. We wouldn’t change a thing.”⠀

“A lot of people assume that we must LOVE getting to stay in a “real” home for the holidays…but it’s actually not totally the case! The house is a blessing to stay in but there are so many things about our bus that we miss! Beyond the obvious… the fact that it is “our” space… cleaning 250 sq ft is NOTHING compared to a normal sized house! It takes the family 30 mins to pic up our whole bus versus a few hours getting a home nice and clean…I feel like I can’t keep up!”

Ellen

“This is my mini camper van. If you’d told me 4 months ago that I would be able to convert my own mini camper, I definitely wouldn’t have believed you!” ⠀

“I have always wanted a camper but never thought I could make it happen until I looked into to micro camper conversions. I’m not in a position to move into one full time but love having my own little space for when I have spare time, and it makes getting away for adventures much easier!”

“I converted it by myself over the winter while my other-half was working abroad for three months. It felt good to achieve a dream and although it’s pretty shabby in places it’s very much mine and I’m quite proud, considering I have never done anything like that before!”

Andrew and Yesenia

Living the off-grid, solar powered, high altitude, mountain dream!

“Living the chilled out, off grid, solar powered life at 8,400′ in the peaceful & awe-inspiring Southern Rockies just outside of Westcliffe, CO. We gave up city life in 2016 for dark skies, sustainability, cannabis, and A-Frame living! We currently rent our A-Frame on Airbnb for others to experience & reconnect with nature as we continue to work on our vision for our ranch, the Red A Chalet.”

“Simply put, we love good times, positive energy, and a peaceful existence with the world around us!”⠀